Signal and searchlight shutter



U U U 1954 o. J. ZANDER SIGNAL AND SEARCHLIGHT SHUTTER Maw- I 2 Sheets-Sheet l f Filed May 21 1951 INVENTOR.

OTTO J. ZANDER ATTORNEY Nov. 30, 1954 o. J. ZANDER 2,695,547

SIGNAL AND SEARCHLIGHT SHUTTER Filed May 21, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 28 OTTO J. ZANDER ATTORNEY United States Patent SIGNAL AND SEARCHLIGHT SHUTTER Otto J. Zander, Huguenot, N. Y.

Application May 21, 1951, Serial No. 227,353

4 Claims. (Cl. 88-61) This invention relates to signal and searchlight shutters. The present application is a continuation-in-part of my co-pending application Ser. No. 769,818 filed August 21, 1947, for Signal and Searchlight Shutters, now Patent No. 2,553,622, issued May 22,1951.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a signal and searchlight shutter which is quick, positive and foolproof in operation.

It is another object of my invention to provide a shutter of the character described having simple, rugged, inexpensive parts and which can be made economically.

It is another object of my invention to provide a shutter of the character described which can be operated in identical fashion at both sides thereof.

It is another object of my invention to provide a shutter of the character described having a comparatively slight depth but which nevertheless is capable of being moved between a fully opened and a fully closed position.

Other objects of my invention will in part be obvious and in part will be pointed out hereinafter.

My invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements and arrangements of parts which will be exemplified in the device hereinafter described and of which the scope of application will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings in which is shown one of the various possible embodiments of my invention,

Fig. l is a front, partially broken away, view of a signalling searchlight shutter constructed in accordance with my invention, the same being illustrated in closed position;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. l but showing the shutter in opened position;

Fig. 3 is a central sectional view through the shutter,

the same being taken substantially along the line 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along the line 44 of Fig. 2, and is illustrative of the mounting means for the shutter vanes;

Fig. 4a is an enlarged sectional view illustrative of the mounting for one of the vane link means;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along the line 5-5 of Fig. 2, and is illustrative of the construction of the operating means on the right hand side of the shutter;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along the line 66 of Fig. 2, and is illustrative of the operating means on the left hand side of the shutter;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along the line 77 of Fig. 6, and is illustrative of a motion limiting means embodied in the shutter;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along the line 8-8 of Fig. l, and is illustrative of the vane mounting and actuating means; and

Fig. 9 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along the line 99 of Fig. 1, the same being illustrative of the contour of the shield which covers the small central aperture left by the vanes when in closed position.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, the reference numeral 10 denotes a signalling shutter adapted to be mounted on the casing of a searchlight. For convenience the beam of the searchlight will be used as a reference line. The direction of emission of the beam will be considered up" and the line of the beam vertical.

The shutter includes a housing 12 in the form of an 2,695,547 Patented Nov. 30; 1954 open-ended sleeve made for example from sheet metal. Suitably secured, as by welding, to one end of the sleeve s a ring 14 Whose central opening 16 is defined by an inturned flange 18 which is adapted to engage the casing of the searchlight. The other end of the sleeve 12 carries a cover 20 that supports a large centrally disposed clear transparent protective pane 22. The cover 20 is secured in position in any conventional manner as for example by a plurality of C clamps 24.

Intermediate its ends the sleeve 12 supports a circular plate or shelf 26 on which the active portion of the shutter is disposed. Said shelf is provided with a large circular central aperture 28 which is in line with the opening in a stationary ring 30 that is permanently aflixed to the upper surface of the shelf, as by screws 32. Concentric with the stationary ring is an outer ring 34 which is mounted for oscillation about the center of the aligned openings in the shelf and stationary ring.

The mounting for the ring 34 constitutes a set of ball bearings 36 which ride in annular races 38, 40 in the outer side wall of the stationary ring and the inner side wall of the oscillatable ring, respectively. The distance from the center of the race 40 in the oscillatable ring to the shelf is such as to permit the bottom of the oscillatable ring to clear the upper surface of the shelf 26 so that the sole support for the oscillatable ring is the anti-friction bearing.

The searchlight further includes a large number of long slender thin fiat vanes 42 each of which tapers from its base at the rings 30, 34 towards its tip. The vanes are made of thin sheet metal so that their mass is comparatively slight and, therefore, but little force is required jointly to swing all the vanes in the group. Each vane is secured at its base. as by brazing, to a different pendent elongated link 44 which extends transversely across the vane.

One end of each link is formed with a vertical through bore 46 in which there is received the shaft of a vertical screw 48 that is secured to the upper surface of the stationary ring 30, whereby to form a vertical pivot for the link. The several screws are uniformly spaced around said ring. The head of each screw 48 is countersunk in the associated link 44 to enable an adjacent vane to swing over the same without interference.

All of the links 44 are of the same height, including the thickness of the superimposed vanes 42. However, each vane has a circumferential base width (the reference point being the center of the opening in the stationary ring) which is in excess of the spacing between two adjacent screws 48. To prevent this proportioning from binding the vanes against movement, each bore 46 is made a little larger than the shaft of the screw 48 contained therein and each countersunk portion of the bore made a little larger than the head of said screw so that each screw is loosely or sloppily fitted in its associated link, thus permitting the link to tilt with respect to its axis of rotation about the screw 48. In this manner each vane is slightly tilted with respect to its axis of rotation and each vane has one edge overlying the adjacent edge of one neighboring vane and its other edge underlying the adjacent edge of the other neighboring vane. This inclined relative position of the vanes is maintained when the vanes are swung about the screws 48 between opened and closed position.

Suitable means is provided to interconnect each link to the oscillatable ring 34 for the purpose of actuating the vanes. By way of example said means includes a different pin 50 for each link. Each pin is secured to the oscillatable ring 34 and projects above the upper surface thereof into a slot 52 in its associated link. The several pins are uniformly spaced around the ring. Said slot is elongated in a direction radially of the screw 48 for the associated link. Since each pin is close to its cooperating screw, when the ring 34 is oscillated through but a small angle, each pin 50 will cause its associated link to swing from the closed position shown in Fig. 1 to the opened position shown in Fig. 2 or vice-versa.

In the opened position of the shutter (Fig. 2) the inner edge of each vane is in substantial registry with the registered openings in the stationary ring 30 and shell 26, the vane being located in the space between the peripheries of these openings and the inner surface of the sleeve 12 (see Fig. 3). In the closed pos1t1on of the shutter (Fig. 1) it is impossible for all the vanes to extend to the center of the shutter or beyond due to the angular stacking of the vanes which per mits the vanes to be of slight depth when the shutter is closed. Hence in the closed position of the shutter, the vanes are so relatively positioned that their tips define a small centrally located opening 54 (see Figs. 1 and 9). In order that this opening be covered and no light permitted to shine therethrough, I provide any single one of the vanes 42 with a 'shield 56 projecting from its tip. When the vane to which this shield is attached is disposed in closed position (Fig. l) the shield is located over the tips of all the vanes, thereby covering the opening 54. So that the tips of no vanes will ride over the shield despite the fact that the shield is kept close to the opening 54 so as to limit the emission of light, said shield has its surface facing the vanes formed to a convex shape; thereby if the tip of any vane should be slightly raised, it will strike the curved undersurface of the shield and be deflected and forced into its proper closed position.

The shutter also includes means for operating the vane actuating means. Said operating means comprises a shaft 58 (Fig. journalled in a bearing 60 fixed on the right hand side of the sleeve 12. Said shaft carries a handle 62 on its outer end by means of which the shaft can be rocked. The inner end of the shaft extends through the sleeve to support a crank arm 64 on whose tip a ball 66 is rotatable secured, as by a screw 68. The center of rotation of the shaft 58 is located beneath the shelf 26. The ball 66 is slidable in a vertical slot 70 in the oscillatable ring 34 whereby rocking the shaft 58 which will oscillate said ring. The shaft 58 and the ring 34 are biased to either one of two extreme positions by a torsion spring 72 having one end fixed to the stationary bearing 60 and the other end fixed to a collar 74 locked on the shaft 58. In one said extreme position the shutter is opened (Fig. 2) and in the other the shutter is closed (Fig. 1). As shown herein the spring biases the shutter to closed position. From inspection of the drawings it will be seen that if the right hand handle 62 extends downwardly and forwardly when the shutter is in the position as shown in Fig. 1, swinging this handle rearwardly will open the shutter.

The operating means for the shutter further includes a second handle 76 at the left hand side of the sleeve 12. This second handle is mounted on a shaft 78 which preferably is diametrically opposite from and in registry with the shaft 58. The shaft 78 is journalled in a bearing 80 fixed to the sleeve 12. The inner end of the shaft 78 carries a crank arm 82 on whose tip a ball 84 is rotatably secured. Said ball is slidably received in a vertical slot 86 formed in a depending finger 88. This finger is carried by and projects downwardly from the oscillating ring 34. Said finger protrudes through a slot 90 in the shelf 26. From inspection of the drawings it will be seen that if the left hand handle 76 extends downwardly and forwardly when the shutter is in its Fig. 1 position, swinging said handle rearwardly will move the shutter to its open position.

Thus moving either handle in the same direction will cause the same operation of the shutter despite the fact that the handles are on opposite sides of the sleeve 12. This desirable result is obtained by having the crank arms associated with the two handles extend in opposite directions whereby the crank arms, in effect, engage portions of the ring 34 lying on opposite sides of their axes of rotation.

A torsion spring 92 having one end secured to the stationary bearing 80 and the other end to a collar 98 locked on the shaft 78 biases the shutter to closed position.

Desirably, movement of the oscillating ring 34 is limited to correspond to opened and closed position of the shutter. This is accomplished by having the shutter include a yoke 96 fixedly attached to the undersurface of the shelf 26. The ends of the yoke support stop nuts 98, 100 that lie in the path of travel of the finger 88 and are contacted thereby in the two extreme positions of said finger corresponding to the opened and closed position of the shutter.

It thus will be seen that I have provjded a device 4 which achieves all the objects of the invention and is well adapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein described, or shown in the accompanying drawings, is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A signal and searchlight shutter comprising a plate with an aperture therein, a plurality of long slender thin fiat vanes mounted to turn on individual axes uniformly spaced around said aperture, and means to jointly swing said vanes between open and closed position, said means including a single movable member, handles on opposite sides of the shutter and kinematic trains interconnecting each handle and the member, said trains being opposite-acting whereby similar movement of either handle produces the same movement of the member and therefore with the same movement of the vanes.

2. A signal and searchlight shutter comprising a plate with an aperture therein, a plurality of long slender thin flat vanes mounted to turn on individual axes uniformly spaced around said aperture, and means to jointly swing said vanes between open and closed position, said means including handles on opposite sides of the shutter, a different shaft associated with each handle, said shafts extending inwardly from the handles, a crank carried by each shaft and a single vaneactuating means engageable by said cranks, said cranks extending on opposite sides of the shafts whereby similar movement by either handle produces the same move ment of the vanes.

3. A signal and searchlight shutter comprising a plate with an aperture therein, a ring irnmovably secured to said plate around said aperture, a second ring concentric with and rotatable about the first ring, a plurality of long slender thin flat vanes mounted to turn around individual uniformly spaced axes on said first ring, means pivotally interconnecting the second ring with each of said vanes so that oscillation of the second ring will jointly swing the vanes between open and closed position, a pair of shafts disposed on opposite sides of the shutter, a handle on each shaft, a crank on each shaft, and means providing a pair of slots movable with the second ring, each of said cranks having a pin riding in a different one of said slots, said cranks extending in opposite directions whereby similar movement of either handle produces the same movement of the vanes.

4. A signal and searchlight shutter comprising a plate with an aperture therein, a plurality of long slender thin flat vanes approximately parallel to said plate and mounted to swing on individual axes slightly out of perpendicular to said plate, all of said axes being similarly inclined, said axes being spaced at regular intervals around said aperture, the width of each vane adjacent its axis being wider than the spacing between said axes so that said vanes overlap one another, one edge of each vane slidably overlying an adjacent edge of a neighboring vane and the other edge of each vane slidably underlying an adjacent edge of the other neighboring vane whereby said vanes are arranged in mutual overlapping relationship around said aperture so that the vanes are tilted slightly out of parallelism to the plate, said mutual overlapping relationship preventing the vanes from swinging to a fully closed position and causing the tips of said vanes to define a small central opening when the vanes have swung closed as far as possible, and means to jointly swing to said vanes between such a closed position and an open position, said last-named means including a single movable member, handles on opposite sides of the shutter and kinematic trains interconnecting each handle and the member, said kinematic trains being opposite-acting whereby similar movement of either handle produces the same movement of the member and therefore the same movement of the vanes.

(References on following page) Number Snyder et a1. Oct. 2, 1923 Name Date Barenyi June 28, 1932 Poynter Aug. 22, 1944 Zander May 22, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Norway Aug. 7, 1899 Germany Nov. 19, 1903 Great Britain Dec. 28, 1950 

